A camping trip, firewood woes, and Thanksgiving

It's been a while since posting here, not much to write about gardening this time of year, but I think I'll try to ramble from time to time throughout the winter months. I often have a hard time to get started writing, but then once I get going it kinda flows along. Kinda write quickly as the thoughts come, then proofread and make sure my thoughts were in some kind of order before publishing. :)

The garden aspect is mostly over for this season, with below zero temps the last two nights, and a beautiful blanket of white on the ground. It's actually quite cozy, especially looking from inside the house by the cozy wood stove.

Back in October, we went on a boy's camping trip to the Sturgeon River Falls, with a couple of my younger brothers, four of my sons, and four nephews. My younger brother Levi wanted to take the nephews camping, and said I could come along as well. Not one to pass up a good time, I went. :) It was a hoot and a half, except sleeping on the hard ground. It kinda makes one feel the years. Next time, I'm gonna be a wimp and bring along my roll-up camping air pad. It's the type that you open the valve and it inflates itself. Don't know why I didn't bring it- probably a combination of being rushed, feebleness of mind, and forgetfulness. :)

"Home" on the evening of October 15th.

Actually, not quite accurate, I guess. They say home is where your heart is, and my heart was divided between camping with the boys and being back home with the love of my life, Janice. But Dad's gotta do things that develop boyness in the boys, so we had a blast wilderness camping and fireside cooking.

How eggs are cooked when Mama's not around.

The water wouldn't sit still long enough to not be blurred. :)

Shot from on the rock above the falls.

From high atop the cliff downriver.

If you've never been to Sturgeon River Falls, it's a nice place to go. Nice to camp at, too, unless you need a power hookup and restrooms with showers. Then it's not your cup-o-tea, as they say. It's beautiful because of, not in spite of, it's wildness and remoteness. It is advisable to keep a close grip on youngsters (and reckless oldsters, too), due to the many possibilities of getting hurt bad or killed there. Wilderness places are beautiful, but need to be respected.

The cold came early this year. Here's a picture of kale plants frozen solid. Remarkably, those same kale plants were harvestable when they thawed out. I love plants that are easy. :)

Blue curled kale

Red Ursa Kale

We had a bit of a scrap getting the firewood out of the woods this year. A memorable time, for sure. We'd been cutting it and stacking it in the woods, planning to bring it up to the woodshed maybe in late November or December. Most years it's possible to get into the woods quite late with the wood hauler pickup. Seeing how the big early storm was shaping up, however, I thought it's now or never. So we started hauling on the 10th, after killing and skinning the two hogs we were raising for meat. Went ok the first day, the second day was a kerfuffle. One of the days I told my son who was driving, when you drive through the muddy place in the back, go for broke. If wood falls off, don't stop. It would be rotten to get buried in the mud or high centered with a full load of wood on. I was following on foot, came around the corner, and by cracky if the tailgate wasn't lying in the middle of the trail, with wood spilled along as he went! He later said he didn't even know he'd lost the tailgate until he got home. (No, Mrs. R.D., my favorite cousin-in-law, you aren't the only one who's done that. :)  )

On the second day, we got stuck two or three times, and on (what turned out to be) the last load for the day, my son was going through the (newly but very aptly named) Mud Flats, and must have hit a rut pretty good, he blew the bag on the front passenger side. Obviously you lose purchase when that happens, so we hooked up a tow strap and come-along, dragged the beast onto a flatter area, and proceeded to change the tire. Then one of the little boys says, the back one's going flat too. 'Twas a bit of a pain, but we got them both changed and hauled for home. I guess that'll teach me to wait until the last minute to bring the wood to the woodshed. :)

Now for Thanksgiving- we had a blast yesterday at Dad and Mom's house. Between D and M, all 38 grandchildren (and not counting the tiny ones on the way:)), my siblings and their spouses, and 3 visitors, there were 59 people present, until my auntie and some of the cousins came later on, then we had 65 people there. 'Twas a big time, we ate and visited, nothing like being with family. Friends and family are really the best earthly possessions, if you can call them that. All the things in the world are boring, if one has to enjoy them alone. That's my thought on the matter, anyhow.

Turkey candle holder my son made, keeping watch over things.

Mama's plaque on the dessert table.

In closing here's a cute picture of Baby Anthony, getting an early start into the wonderful world of books, with his faithful friend Bear. :)

Baby Anthony Azariah Jefferson with Bear. :)

Beautifully busy fall days

Whoops! I fell off the tracks here on keeping this updated- time to write something. :) Things have been busy here- trying to finish up the winter wood, harvesting, continuing to plant, etc. We have had frost, like, I suspect, most of you reading this, have had as well. Overnight, from the 11th to the 12th, the temperature dropped like a young man's heart when he sees the girl of his dreams out with another suitor at the Saturday night ice skating get-together. Had 28 degrees that night, and 31 the next night. We anticipated it, though, and made preparations, so no real worries. I alluded to a trick to help the tomatoes ripen in a previous post- the idea was to set posts around the patch, then staple plastic to the posts. It would essentially make walls, that would keep the cool winds off the plants, while still allowing rain to get in and an open top to allow them to vent. Didn't work too well, with the wind blowing the plastics off the posts. But I had one of the cherubs here go by and cut the tomato growing points and most blossoms back, to try and force them to ripen the fruit already set, and cover them through the frosts. The plants are not doing too bad, all things considered. Here's how it looks on one of them.

Sioux Tomato

Yesterday, while out cutting firewood, we saw this neat tree frog. Been working to wrap up the winter's wood, since we all know what's coming. Not really looking forward to it, after last winter, but at the same time, (hopefully) slower days with quiet evenings around the living room stove, eating popcorn and reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls, does sound kinda cozy, so, I guess, bring it on. As one of my younger brothers is wont to say, what can't be cured must be endured.

Tree frog chillin'.

We've continued planting more baby green type crops, which we'll set out in our season extension "systems", of which I will explain more when they are up and going. And the winter carrots are sure looking good. These crops will be available primarily through our after the market season veggie delivery system. If I've already mentioned it to you, and gotten your email, no worries, you're in. If you haven't heard about it, and are interested, stop by one of the markets and inquire, or send an email. One of the earlier blog posts explains it in more detail.

Baby brassica greens

Baby lettuce

More baby cukes in the greenhouse

Rouxai lettuce

Helenor Rutabaga.

Below is a picture from one of the winter carrot beds. I call it "the cracking of the row". It's a good sign, when you see the carrot row start to look like a mini earthquake crack- it means the roots are swelling nicely down there. :)

The cracking of the row

Here's a newer shot of the big new herb garden.............

Beautiful happy herbs

Honeybee working on a zucchini blossom.

One of the late spinach beds.

Nope, it's not your eyes, nor is it a mistake- the bed is intentionally tilted toward the left, the left side being toward the south in this picture. Especially when planting late in the season, it helps to capture all the solar radiation you can- and tilting the bed while raking it out is one way of doing that. Seems to be doing well for this bed, it was planted early September, and the seeds are up and growing happily. Probably be harvesting from this bed late October.

Last picture for this post is...........

Nap time for Molly Anne and one of her many dollies. :)

No napping for me, however, I gotta run and wear out the chainsaw some more. :) Y'all take care now!

Tomato and cucumber seed saving, onion seeds, and lots of pictures

Happy Labor Day! As I sit here pecking at the keys, the skies are gray and the rain is gently falling. Kind of a nice slow day. We scrambled this morning to get a few things done before it started raining too much, getting some onions and spuds out of the ground and planted some more fall greens. It always seems strange to be planting seed this time of the year, but the reality is that many greens actually prefer the cooler, wetter, short days of fall more than the blasting dry heat of summer. (Which, obviously, we really didn't get this year, but ..............) When planting the beginning of September, it seems I should go get my head checked out. :) But, as a gardening friend says, when I had mentioned myself being a bit loony having cucumber plants about a foot long now, for late cukes, she said I'm just being optimistic. Thanks for that kind comment, J.M. :)

Had a few tomato plants start ripening outside quite a bit earlier than most of the others, so I saved some seed. My planting records said they were the heirloom variety called "Rose" (a name I really like, one of our daughters also bears that name); having grown the Rose tomato in the past, however, I know these were most certainly NOT Rose tomatoes. I think they were an extra early variety called Glacier, which we also planted a few of, and which obviously got mixed up somehow. Small, red, but with a good flavor, especially considering their earliness. Started by cutting them in half, across the equator, so to speak, then squeezing out the gel and seeds into a cup and labeling them.

Tomato seed saving on the kitchen counter

Squeezing out the gel and seeds

Some of next season's tomatoes

Did essentially the same thing with a pickling cucumber (which by the time it was ready for seed saving was far past being a good pickle). Got my seed saving operation booted out of the kitchen by the two head cooks here, my lovely and gracious wife Janice and our oldest daughter Melissa, who is following in Janice's footsteps and is becoming a great homemaker in her own right. But I don't mind getting moved out of the kitchen, it means good eatin' is in the works. :) So I had to use the little octagonal cabinet/table in the living room to snap this photo. Here's the cuke seed pics.

Seeds ready to be scooped out

Here they are, with the cuke juice and a little water added.

In a few days, the containers looked like this, which they are supposed to look like.............

Mold grown across the top

Rinsed off, lighter mostly immature seeds poured off.

I'll let them dry down on the coffee filters for a few days, then get them in a envelope, and into the freezer for next year's cropping. Here's a picture of the onion seeds we saved earlier. They are still sitting on the old pump organ (boy, it's nice to hear that thing squawk, I like to sit and play a few songs now and again), but when I get some time here, I'm gonna blow off the chaff and get those seeds into a packet as well.

Next season's onions, ready for your salads in about 11 months. :)

Now, a big photo blast, in no particular order.

Two of the little squirts, "helping" make sauerkraut.

Cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes, with a cilantro/parsley/oil/vinegar dressing.

Big caterpillar, was on one of the plum trees.

Fall crops, loving the weather.

Lots of baby lettuces in the little portable greenhouse.

Huge cabbage in the home garden, for more sauerkraut.

Bee balm and Korean hyssop. The bees love them!

Peppermint, growing back from the recent cutting.

Cabbage was harvested, now it's making mini-cabbages. :)

Huge Blue Hubbard squash.

It's strange to see the pond so full this time of year.........

Echinacea purpurea in bloom.

The big caterpillar that was on the plum branch is of an unknown variety. We saw a couple here last year as well. If anyone out there knows what kind it is, I'd be interested to find out. One really strange one last year would shoot out it's orange horns/antennae at you when you touched it. We usually put them in the woods and let them finish their life cycle. I guess that's one of the results of planting lots of flowers and pollinator habitat- you get lots of pollinators, which is of course what we want.


Well, it looks like the rain is letting up a bit for now, so I better run along. Y'all take care now...........

Natural irrigation, striking gold, and a bunch of pictures

Whew! 'Twas nice to see the sun today, even for a while. Haven't needed to irrigate the outside crops lately- this seems to be the wettest August I can remember in recent years. But the crops seem to be taking it in stride, except for the tomatoes, which are still waiting for summer. A few ripe ones here and there, but by and large, it's gonna be a while before they really get going. Got a trick up my sleeve, to try and get them ripening. More on that when I get it done.

We've been busy trying to keep on top of things here- it seems to always be a scramble about this time of year. But we've been continuing to plant lots of fall greens and such. Here's a picture of some new baby cutting lettuce, for our salad mix. It should start hitting the market tables in probably a week.

Here's a picture of lunch today- kale with bacon and onions, zucchini pancakes, zucchini oven fries, and beet thinnings with a yummy cilantro sauce drizzled over them. The sauce recipe is in the vegetarian cookbook sold by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. The name escapes me at the moment, and I'm too busy pecking away at the keyboard to go find the book. Nope, in case you're wondering, we're not vegetarians or vegans, but the cookbook focuses on veggies, which we love eating. So it's good. Anywho, lunch....

Yum!

Talking about fall crops, all this rain sure got the winter carrots lookin' good......we plant lots of carrots usually mid-July in this area, then mulch them to prevent freezing before the snows come, then are able to dig fresh carrots all winter. Planted lots this year for our winter veggie deliveries.

Never mind the small patch of weeds in the aisle. :)

There are beets in the middle, with some winter radishes as well, then more carrots toward the left of the picture. And some rutabagas south of the carrots. In other news, we struck gold here....well,  not the usual kind, but Yukon Gold spuds, pictured below. The potatoes are really lovin' this weather- I don't think we'll be eating store pseudo-spuds this year, and I think we'll have some for winter sales as well.

Yukon Gold potatoes

Here's a picture of one of the last zucchini plants we set out for the season. Started them about a month ago I think, then set them out in one of the (harvested) garlic beds, and off they grew! I think they will start producing early September. Am I crazy, starting them this late? Maybe so. :) But there are a few tricks to keep them producing late, and it seems after the zucchini season is over, someone or other's grandma or auntie or mama needs some to make a baking of zucchini bread, or something. I hate telling folks, no, the season is over. Sorry! Hopefully this year I can say, yup, how many you need? :)

Getting there.....

The beets we are growing out for seed are looking good- I'll post pictures some other time. Here's a picture of one of the lettuce plants that we're growing out for seed. The lettuce I mentioned earlier this spring, Kweik, sure went to seed quickly. I looked at another seed catalog, and it was recommended for fall/winter production, so we're giving it another whirl this fall. When lettuce starts running to seed (bolting), it generally acquires a revolting bitterness- certainly no good for eating. But, obviously, to get seed, it needs to bolt, so here's what it looks like when it has bolted.

Kweik Lettuce going to seed, foreground.

Here are some pictures of some of the herbs growing happily in the new herb garden location. No flooding up there on the hill, so they are lovin' it!

Lovage and elecampane

Winter savory

Calendula (the petals are used in homemade ointments and soaps).

Lemon Balm

Winter Thyme

Marjoram

Just noticed I need more color here, so I'll close with some color.

Flower garden north of the driveway.

"Long flower garden"

Fresh dug carrots.

Oh, one last thing- we've started doing the new farmer's market at G&A Garden Center on Sharon Avenue in Houghton. The market is 1-6 on Fridays and 10-3 on Saturdays. We do the Friday afternoon market, and of course the Hancock Tori on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, starting at 9. To my regular Tori customers, if it works for you, it would be great for planning purposes to keep coming to the Tori, since doing it for the past couple years we have a good feel of how much of each item to bring to market. But please tell your friends on the south side of the bridge of this new option to get our veggies. Thanks!

Well, I'm gonna run along- y'all please take care now, and eat your veggies! :)